


I Broke a Promise

by skymageariel



Category: The Dragon Prince (Cartoon)
Genre: F/M, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-27 20:55:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22652113
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skymageariel/pseuds/skymageariel
Summary: Callum never hid how he felt, so long as the feeling was emotional. His physical health, however, was kept under wraps for far too long. He didn’t want Rayla to worry about him, but she ended up worrying anyways.
Relationships: Callum/Rayla (The Dragon Prince)
Comments: 19
Kudos: 49





	I Broke a Promise

Callum was never really the type to hide his emotions. He wasn’t a crybaby or anything, rather he was someone who wasn’t afraid to show how he really felt. Maybe that wasn’t necessarily a strength, but it certainly wasn’t a weakness. His showing emotion was simply… human. Not a burden, not a setback, just normal. And as he and Rayla had gotten endlessly closer in the past few weeks, sharing more personal matters wasn’t all that uncommon. They were there for each other, in whatever they needed. Except for one thing.

Callum ever-so-clearly remembered being held up by a magic-monster-zombie version of someone who had once been Prince Kasef. He remembered not being able to breathe, he remembered clawing at the monster’s hand, as it grew tighter around his neck, it’s fist pulling back, ready to punch him in the face and possibly knock his head off. And it probably would have, too, had it not been for Queen Aanya and her army. Their arrows were a saving grace, and a turning point in the battle. The fell, piercing Kasef in the hand, then chest, then head, killing the monster before the monster could kill Callum. But the brief euphoria abruptly ended when Callum, too, felt a sharp pain in his midsection. He looked down to see that an arrow had grazed his side, and he was bleeding rather quickly.

After the battle, Callum quietly found strips of gauze, wrapping them around himself in hopes the bleeding would stop, careful not to let anyone know. Perhaps he didn’t want the attention, or the pity. But more than anything, he didn’t want to cause anyone any worry. Least of all Rayla, who had promised to accompany him on his trip back home, and who had other things to worry about. 

So they traveled together, truly alone for the first time since the Midnight Desert. No baby dragon, no worrying about a war, just the two of them, a promising trip home, and a pain in Callum’s side that wouldn’t go away.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Rayla asked casually as they walked through the forest. The question took a second to register. In truth, Callum was wondering if that gash in his side was ever going to fade. But in falsity-

“Nothing really,” he lied. “I guess I’m just glad to be going home.”

“Yeah,” Rayla sighed. “Me too.”

“Hey- Maybe the ghost spell is lifted at the Silvergrove? You did help save the world, after all.”

“Eh, that’s wishful thinking,” Rayla frowned. “They ghosted me because they thought I abandoned the others. Until I can prove that wrong to everyone-“

“I think they’ll give you a break,” Callum said. “If you explained to Ethari what happened, I’m sure he’d spread the word.”

“Yeah,” Rayla smiled at the memory of Ethari. “I hope so.”

As they wandered, Callum could started to feel much more fatigued than usual. He was tired, his body ached. And then there was a sharp pain at his side, causing him to wince. 

“You okay?” Rayla asked, concerned. 

“Yeah, just… stubbed my toe,” Callum replied, nonchalant. When Rayla wasn’t looking, he glanced down at his shirt, where a bright red spot started growing, though thankfully it blended in well with the fabric. He quickly clasped his hand over the wound, ignoring the stinging the contact brought. Luckily, the sky had begun turning shades of scarlet, a sure sign that night was on its way. 

“Maybe we should find a place to crash for the night?” He asked, hoping the rest would stop the bleeding. Rayla looked around, pointing to a huge tree with roots growing in every which direction, growing in a way that made them look almost like bars to a cage. 

“We can find shelter under there,” she suggested. The two made their way closer. Callum dropped his bags and immediately fell to the ground, not realizing until he did just how tired he was. Rayla mentioned something about finding food, and Callum sat up to watch her leave. As soon as she was gone, he lifted his shirt, only to find blood-soaked gauze covering where he was hit. He cursed himself for not bringing more- how could he have been so careless?

He peeled it back, only to find that what started as a deep cut had grown into a rather large lesion, and had even started to turn a funky shade of green, which he tried to assure himself was just bruising. With a grimace, Callum took off his scarf and tied it around his waist, pulling his shirt on top so Rayla couldn’t see, hoping the pressure and coverage would help. 

Spoiler alert- it didn’t. 

——

Callum woke up the next morning to shooting pains through his midsection. He looked over at Rayla, who was beginning to stir. She sat up and they looked at one another, groggy. 

“Are you okay?” Rayla asked, rubbing her eyes. 

“What? Why wouldn’t I be?” Callum replied, doing the same. 

“Something’s off.”

“Nothing unusual, then. Shall we?” he said, avoiding the remark as they crawled out from under the tree and stood. Hints of sunlight hit Callum’s face as he stood, and he felt a bit dizzy for a moment. He really hoped that cut would go away. Rayla glanced back at him, trying to hide her concern as Callum regained his balance. He looked… weaker. His shoulders hunched over a bit when he moved, and his feet seemed to drag when he walked. He was more tired than the normal chipper and cheery Callum she was used to. Perhaps it was just the morning- he was tired, that’s all.  _ He’s just tired, _ Rayla told herself. 

They walked along for hours, and every step made Callum feel like he was walking uphill with rocks tying him down. Undeniably, this whole injury thing was taking more of a toll on him than he’d hoped. He was tired, his skin felt warm but he found himself wishing he still had his jacket. But it would go away soon. Callum had an immune system of steel- he’d be fine. 

“We’re a few days from the Silvergrove,” Rayla mentioned. “Maybe, if we’re lucky, we could stay there. Rest up for a bit.”

“Yeah,” Callum exhaled. “Sounds great,” he said, not realizing how out of breath he was. 

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“How many days did you say we are from home?” 

Rayla pursed her lips. “Probably around two if we can pick up the pace a bit.” She started moving faster, leaving Callum behind. But he caught up eventually, joking about how he’d never been the sports type, about how he was pretty out of shape for a prince. 

“I’m nervous to go back home,” Rayla admitted with an anxious chuckle. “I wonder if they’ll listen to me.”

“I’m sure they will,” Callum said. “I don’t see how they couldn’t listen to the last dragonguard,” he smiled. Rayla beamed, and seemed to stand a little straighter. 

There was no real issue until midday, when the injury started throbbing. It was at that moment that Callum realized this might be a bigger problem than anticipated. He was feeling feverish, and last he checked, that cut had deepened, been green, and hadn’t stopped bleeding. But what was he supposed to do at this point? He and Rayla were two days from the Silvergrove. If Callum could wait until then- if Callum could hold off on telling Rayla until it didn’t have to be her problem- then he should be okay. It was one injury. One wound, exposed for not but a day or two more. He’d be fine. She was worried about going home- he couldn’t let her worry about him too. 

And then it started hurting more. A persistent sting that felt like a million needles jabbing into his side. He winced and grimaced, sucking in a quiet breath as he walked. 

“Something’s wrong,” Rayla said, pausing. “You’re hiding something.”

“What! No!” Callum plastered a smile on his face and scratched the back of his head. “Not a chance. I’m an open book.”

“Where did your scarf go?” Rayla realized, pointing at his neck where the crimson scarf normally hung. Callum shrugged. 

“Must’ve lost it somewhere. I’ll get a new one when I get home.” Beads of sweat started forming on his forehead, reminding him of how  _ sick _ he felt. He hugged his arms in an attempt to keep warm and started on his way again, Rayla following skeptically. 

“You’re really pale,” she said. “You look sick.”

“I’ll be fine, let’s just keep moving,” he protested. 

“No, we should probably pause for a day or so, you need to rest-“

“We’re only a day and a half out from the Silvergrove, I’ll be fine until then,” Callum interrupted, trying to sound cheerful. 

“Promise me that if you start to feel worse, you’ll tell me?”

Callum paused, still smiling. “Promise. Don’t worry about me, alright? Besides- I’m not sick”

“Okay.” Rayla relaxed when Callum promised. He felt guilty for lying, but all the same, Rayla had enough on her plate. 

That night, Callum resisted the urge to jump into the fire that they’d started to keep warm. He sat as close as he could be, hugging his knees to his chest, shivering and sweating, cursing that pulsating burn in his side that only continued to get worse. 

“Feeling any better?” Rayla asked, sitting next to him. Callum glanced up at her, trying to wipe any hint of discomfort from his demeanor. 

“Never felt bad in the first place,” he replied, casual. Rayla rolled her eyes and felt his forehead again. 

“Sure, sure. But that doesn’t change the fact that it’s a rather warm night, and you’re sitting close to the fire, balled up and shaking.”

“I’m not shaking!”

“Yes, you are. I’m worried about you, Callum. You’re sick.”

“No! No, no, don’t worry! Don’t worry about me!” he protested, twisting to face her. “I’ll be okay, I promise. I promise, alright?”

Rayla’s expression softened. “You know you better than I do,” she said. “I trust you. Tell me if something changes?” 

“Absolutely.” The two stared into the fire, shoulders pressed together. Rayla could feel the heat of his skin through her sleeve. She glanced over at him, his face pale. Quietly, she pressed the back of her hand to his forehead, and found that he was definitely sick. 

“What are you doing?” he asked. 

“You’ve got a fever.”

“Eh- so what?”

“You’re sick. Really sick.”

“I feel fine, Rayla. I already promised.” Callum felt that stupid wound send a sharp pain through him whenever he breathed too deep, making his breathing shallow and quick. He hoped Rayla didn’t notice. 

“Are you excited to go home?” Callum finally asked. Rayla shrugged. 

“I’m excited to see Ethari again,” she said. “I’m excited to be somewhere familiar after everything that’s happened. But I have a strange feeling they won’t want to see me.”

“Don’t say that, I’m sure-“

“You’re sure that if I just explain, they’ll have a change of heart. You’re sure that if they just listened, they’d see it differently, but that’s not how moonshadow elves work. We’re stubborn, haven't you noticed?”

Callum let out a laugh. “Yeah, I have. But either way, it’s your home. They can’t kick you out of your home, can they?”

“But they can, and I’m worried it will stay like that.”

“You’ve got a lot of worry in you,” Callum remarked leaning closer to her. 

“I guess so,” she said, leaning into him. Soon, her breathing was deep and steady. She’d fallen asleep with her head on his shoulder. Quietly and slowly, Callum laid her down so she could sleep peacefully. He moved away, lifting his shirt and untying his scarf to find that his wound had only gotten deeper, no sign of closing up. Blood oozed from the lesion, and the skin around had started to look more green. Veins around the cut had turned purple, clearly visible through his skin. And looking at it only made it hurt worse. Callum grimaced as he tied the scarf back around himself. 

——

He didn’t sleep well that night. The pain in his side only increased as the night went on. Whenever he was able to drift off, he was awakened abruptly by a shooting pain, or a dull and intense ache. He shivered all night, freezing cold, despite the heat and humidity in the air around him. When the sun finally rose, Callum was not only feeling significantly worse, but he was extremely tired on top of it. 

“Breakfast?” Rayla asked, digging a handful of berries out of his bag. Callum shook his head. 

“Not hungry,” he confessed. Rayla frowned. 

“C’mon, you need to eat something,” she said, pushing some berries into his hand. Tentatively, he tried to take a bite of one, but as soon as the fruit hit his tongue, his throat closed up and his stomach convulsed, and-

“Nope,” he muttered, stuffing the berries back in his bag, swallowing down whatever would have come up. He stood and almost fell back down again, head swimming and vision tilting. The pain in his side grew again, and every step hurt.  _ One more day _ , he kept thinking.  _ One more day until we get to the Silvergrove. If I’m not better by the time we get there, then I’ll tell her. _

It felt like he was walking uphill, though the terrain was relatively flat. Every step took so much more energy out of him than it should have, and before noon, his whole body was aching. Callum was trembling, his side sending darting pains through him like electricity. When he lifted his shirt, he could see purple veins sprouting above where his scarf was tied, showing through his skin, almost like a tattoo. His scarf had a sickly stain on it, too. He wanted nothing more than to collapse right there, lay down, and never get up again. He was tired, his body wasn’t working, his legs were screaming in pain and it hurt to breathe. He was shivering still, though he was sweating profusely. His legs had almost given out by the time Rayla called for a break.

“Lunch time!” she smiled, sitting on the ground and opening a bag, pulling out more Xadian fruits for the two of them. She handed Callum something that looked vaguely like an apple, and should have been very appetizing. Rayla ate almost half of hers in under a minute, but Callum just wasn’t hungry.

“Almost home?” He mustered, trying to steady his breathing. Rayla nodded through a mouthful of food.

“We’ll be there this time tomorrow.” She was silent for a moment until she noticed Callum hadn’t eaten. “Still not feeling well?”

“Oh, I’m fine, just… not hungry is all.”

“But-”

“Tell me more about the Silvergrove. I’m realizing I don’t actually know that much about it.”

“What do you mean? You were there.”

“Briefly.”

“True, I suppose. What do you want to know?”

“Whatever I don’t know already. What kind of holidays do you celebrate?”

“Oh! We celebrate Christmas, like you humans do, and we also celebrate  _ Pascha,  _ a day that celebrates the unity between the six eleven kingdoms.”

“What do you do to celebrate?”

“We hide little capsules, each decorated with the symbol of each primal source, around the town. Younger kids are sent to find them, and at the end, open them. Each capsule has a surprise inside, like candies or whatever.”

“Oh! Sounds a lot like Easter.”

“What’s Easter?”

“It’s a celebration of the coming of spring, when the winter famine is over, and we can finally plant crops again. We hide eggs around, like eggs from a duck, since ducklings are normally hatched around this time-”

“What’s a duck?” Rayla asked, with genuine confusion, making Callum laugh, though he wished he hadn’t. The movement made his side hurt, like it was going to split open any second. He tried to hide that discomfort, but obviously didn’t hide it well enough. 

“Woah,” Rayla said, dropping the core of the fruit she was eating. “You just got really pale.”

“Did I?” Callum asked, slipping the fruit into his bag. “I feel fine.”

Rayla looked worried. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah!” Callum smiled. “I promised I’d tell you if I didn’t, remember?”

“Right,” Rayla said, though she didn’t sound relieved. “We’d… better hurry along, then.”

“Yep! Sounds good.” The two of them stood. Callum stumbled back, head swimming, legs shaking.  _ This time tomorrow,  _ he thought to himself.  _ I can make it until this time tomorrow. _

However, as the day continued on, Callum started wondering if he was going to make it anywhere. He was nauseous, his head was pounding. Every step sent stings through his entire side. Breathing was harder than ever. Sleep was fighting to take over from behind his eyes, and when they finally did stop to rest for the night, Callum laid down immediately and welcomed sleep more than ever. Though, he didn’t sleep well.

——

For the second night in a row, he was kept up by a throbbing ache in his side, hot flashes, followed by freezing cold. He sat up and untied his scarf again, only to see that his wound was most definitely infected, more than before. His skin was swollen, turning shades of red and green, with opaque yellow mush oozing from his side, and purple veins spreading all the way up to his chest.

He fell back down, staring up at the sky, which had begun to turn orange, welcoming the morning light. They’d be at the Silvergrove by midday, Callum had almost made it. 

And he reminded himself of that every step of the way. Whenever his legs shook and threatened to give out, he reminded himself he was mere hours from a real place he could rest. Whenever he started shivering from the cold, he reminded himself that he wasn’t far from a place where Rayla didn’t have to be the one to worry about him. Whenever his vision swam, whenever his breathing tightened, whenever he felt like his body would just give up, he reminded himself that really, he was only a few steps away. If you altered the definition of “a few”. 

Rayla marched ahead, blissfully oblivious to Callum’s frequent pauses and stumbles. She babled excitedly about going back home, about seeing Ethari and all her childhood friends again. And Callum wanted to listen. He wanted more than anything to be excited about seeing Rayla’s childhood home again, he just couldn’t find the energy to do anything other than clutch his stomach as he walked along. 

The day continued, with many trials along the way. Presenting himself as fine was apparently something Callum was very good at. She didn’t suspect something was terribly wrong until they arrived. 

They stood at the root of a large tree that led into the Silvergrove. The valley below looked empty, but Callum knew that after one dance, he and Rayla would be inside. 

“We’re finally here!” Rayla laughed, racing forward, leaving Callum behind. But this time, he didn’t try to follow her. “I’m so excited to finally be home, to see everyone again, maybe they’ll listen to me, maybe I’ll get to show you everything for real this time. Oh, I hope it all goes well, I’ve been nervous about it this whole time, but now that we’re finally here- I’ve been waiting for so long! And you remember the dance to get in, right Callum?” Rayla asked, turning to face the boy, only to find him several paces behind. “Callum?” She asked again, but he didn’t answer. His arms were crossed over his stomach, he was shaking violently, swaying where he stood. He grimaced, gritting his teeth, sucking in a breath, trying to will his legs to take one more step.

Instead, he collapsed. 

“Callum!” Rayla surged towards him, falling to her knees in front of where he’d fallen. “Callum, you  _ lied,” _ she cried, turning him so he lay on his back. His face was so pale, it was almost translucent. And his fever- stars above, it was a miracle the boy hadn’t melted. He was shivering still, and beads of sweat dotted his forehead. His lips had started turning a ghostly shade of white. 

“I… broke a promise,” he whispered in between breaths. 

“I can see that, you  _ idiot,” _ Rayla sobbed, tears falling quickly. “How could I have been so stupid, how could I let this happen to you-“

“No!” Callum coughed, lifting his shirt to reveal the makeshift bandage tied around his midsection. With trembling fingers, Rayla untied the scarf to reveal the gash in his side. Green, swollen, still bleeding and oozing a disgusting yellow liquid. Purple veins traveled up his side. He was so thin, Rayla could count his ribs. Each breath looked like it caused him incredible pain, and he was shaking so much, a bystander might think he was having a seizure.  _ I survived everything else,  _ he thought to himself.  _ I survived dragons and sorcerers and heights beyond anything I’ve seen before, and this stupid cut is what’s going to take me down? _

“Why didn’t you tell me!” Rayla wept, brushing stray hairs from his forehead. 

“I didn’t want you to worry,” he whispered before closing his eyes. 

Rayla put her arm behind his back and another under his legs, carrying him into the valley where she knew the Silvergrove stood. She cried for help, she begged whatever god that might exist for someone to hear her. But she was still a ghost. She was locked out, too. No one knew she was there. Callum’s breathing only got slower. 

  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> :) callum done died thanks for reading lol
> 
> edit: if you didnt like how this ended please do not comment about it. the fic is tagged major character death. yes, callum is a little ooc, but thats kind of the point. i took a “what if” concept that i posted about on twitter and turned it into a oneshot because i thought it would be fun. his reasoning for hiding it for so long was clearly stated a few times, and in case you didnt catch it, he didnt want to worry rayla because he thought it would go away, and by the time he realized it wouldnt, he figured if would worry her more. thanks for reading!


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